Requiem of Heaven's Radiance
by MidnightRosebud
Summary: Samurai sentai Shinkenger AU Mako has a secret - a family with a long history of raising and training demon hunters, leaving her little time for friendship or love. But when she's presented with a new case - one that holds more than a professional interest for her, does she dare turn it down? Which will she choose to protect: Her heart? Or the heart of the man who broke hers?
1. Requiem for Heaven's Radiance

**_Author's Note:_** This story was partially inspired by Taylor Swift's songs _Haunted_ and _Speak Now_. During the writing for Part 1, however, I listened to _Requiem for a Dream_ and _Sad Violin_. I was going to make this a long one-shot, but it feels more natural to break it up into a Part One and Part Two. I hope to get the second part up within the next few days. While I did a spell/grammar check, I didn't thoroughly scan over this chapter before writing - if there are odd mistakes/wordings, please don't hesitate to point them out so that I can correct them when I look back over this later.

Constructive Criticism is always welcomed.

_Disclaimer: I have never and will never claim any rights to Kobayashi-san's works. I simply play with them for fun and amusement._

* * *

_Requiem for Heaven's Radiance_

Mako had never been, nor ever wanted to be _that_ girl.

The clingy, insecure, forever pining after a guy, emotional girl who seemed to have no semblance of self-respect much less any dignity.

No, she had always been rather proud of herself for the way she had handled her relationships – calmly, collectedly and just as willing to hang out with friends or spend the evening alone as she was going on a date. As far as she was aware, she had always been a level-headed and well-balanced individual who knew how to divide and compartmentalize her life like some of the best.

Of course, in her line of work, Mako _had_ to keep her life – and relationships – balanced or all hell would break loose. Literally.

Mako was a demon hunter and a damn good one too.

The women in her family held a long-standing tradition of the profession and by Mako's generation had perfected it into nearly an art.

Her family was known by all the right people – anyone with a demon problem could be directed to her family's home when needed. But her family didn't advertise about their profession either – too many conflicts with governmental bodies, law keepers and the occasional village idiot looking to cry out for "heretics" and "witches."

In fact, aside from her family, Mako had only ever let her childhood friend, Kotoha, in on her secret and that had been when they were five years old. Closing in fast on her 23rd birthday now, she knew that was one hell of an exceedingly short list for the last eighteen years.

There was another she had considered telling once, nearly a year ago now, but the pain that came with the memory of that time, that person; it was still too raw for her to even reminisce about.

She was a little frustrated with it too – mooning over a lost love like one of those insipid girls in a popular pop song, making the embarrassment all most too much to bare at times.

Mako sighed quietly into her parfait, spoon softly spinning round and round, creating ribbons of dark chocolate syrup through her ice cream. The soft _clink_ of her spoon occasionally brushing against the glass bowl.

"I'm sorry Mako," Kotoha's soft voice broke into Mako's melancholy.

Mako blinked, startled out of her thoughts.

"You have that look on your face again," she clarified. "The one that says you're thinking about Takeru and…" Kotoha bit her lip. "I didn't want to bring it up, Mako, I swear, but I thought you needed to know."

Mako flushed, her gaze now refusing to meet her friend's, one that was sure to be filled with a sympathy Mako didn't know if she could stomach today. The day she'd received his wedding invitation – to someone else.

They had known Takeru for years through Kotoha's boyfriend, Chiaki. Once their hangouts had become a regular thing, Takeru had brought his friends Ryunosuke and Genta along. They even managed to draw Takeru's cousin, Kaoru into their tight-knit group. The seven of them had become closer than friends – practically a family.

It had taken several years for Takeru to work up the courage to ask Mako out, something she had suspected Kaoru had a lot to do with otherwise he might never have taken the initiative.

Takeru had admitted with a flush that Mako had just seemed so independent – so strong and mature that she intimidated him sometimes. Mako had blinked openly at his statement before blushing herself and muttering about how she thought about him had been mutual. They'd shared a laugh at that and after the initial, awkward first dates they'd eventually smoothed over the transition from friends to a couple. Eventually they could barely remember a time when they had ever been awkward around each other at all.

They fit together so seamlessly – two pieces of the same puzzle, two halves of the same whole, or so Mako had thought at the time.

And that's why, to her ever-living humiliation and heart-ache, the important conversation they had agreed needed to take place _that day_ Mako had believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was going to propose to her.

She hadn't told him of her true profession yet – too terrified of his response to let the words slip past her tongue, but with the bolster of support from Kotoha, had managed to screw up enough courage to tell him that night. After all, if he was going to propose, Mako wanted to make sure Takeru knew exactly what he would be getting in a deal with her.

And naïve as she was, she'd honestly believed he would be okay with. A little shocked perhaps, but that he'd take it in stride, possibly even stating something along the lines of him already having suspected something of the sort. Heaven only knew how often she'd been summoned from their bed in the middle of the night, or was suddenly whisked away on trips around the country for "family business."

But like the fool she now knew she was, Mako had expected too much, trusted too much, hoped for too much.

* * *

They'd met in the park.

Bright, warm sunshine mingled with a cool breeze, warning that summer was at its end and autumn was fast on its heels.

But the trees were still bursting with green, the birds gaily chirping along to their own familiar tunes, and Mako had felt the rays from the sun warming her like the beautiful, wondrous feeling inside her heart.

If she let herself think about what was about to happen, that she'd be finally sharing her innermost secret with Takeru she was scared witless. But the thought of finally relinquishing her secret into the open was a weight of her shoulders that had kept the terror at bay. And the thought of what Takeru had planned made her so giddy she was nearly light-headed from it.

Perhaps that was why she didn't see it coming.

Maybe she had been flying so high inside that she had failed to see the warning signs creeping upon her like the cool breeze that was tugging at her hair and trying to slip its way down her neck to chill her from the outside in.

Her first warning sign was that he had been late.

Takeru was never late.

He was either exactly on time or early, something she had admired and appreciated more than he probably ever knew.

Mako didn't have much time – every minute counted and was priceless to her, her parents had shown her that with startling clarity.

Her second warning should have been when he greeted her with a gentle hug, but had immediately dropped any and all physical contact with her after.

They weren't the time for open public displays of affection, but even so, when they were together, it was as if some invisible force held them close together. It was like a subconscious, magnetic force orchestrated by another power.

Takeru looked like he wasn't sure how to start so Mako took a deep breath and plunged ahead, she felt like she was going to burst anyways if she didn't blurt out what she needed to say.

"Takeru, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time now."

He had dropped her gaze then – another warning sign she had neglected to notice at the time, chalking it up to nerves. "Me too," he had told her.

"Takeru I –"

"Can I go first?" He'd interrupted.

Mako's jaw had snapped shut. Butterflies began to swarm inside, but she had nodded. She'd carried her secret all her life; she could wait a few more minutes. His interruption had given her pause, however, and she had finally begun to study him more intently. Something was…off, but she shrugged away the feeling, if he was as nervous as she, then acting slightly out of character was normal…right?

"Mako, we've been together for a long time now and I really care about you," he had started, his eyes darting about like they couldn't settle on any one thing for long lest his nerves get the best of him.

Mako flushed, certain this was it. Her heart began pounding loudly in her chest.

"And you know I would never try to hurt you, right?"

She nodded, a little confused by the question but he pushed on.

"And that's why Mako," he scratched the back of his neck anxiously, an embarrassed flush alighting his face. "I think we should break up."

Mako had stood in stunned silence for several long minutes, the blood rushing to her head as it tried and failed to process the simple statement. "What?"

Takeru's flush deepened. "Something's happened," he tried to explain in halting sentences. "You see, not too long ago, I met this girl and –"

Mako had taken a full step back in reaction to his stuttering, as if his words had given her a physical blow. "A girl?" Where other girls' would have gone into high-pitched hysteria, Mako stilled, her voice dropping to barely above a whisper. "You were cheating on me?"

"No, no!" He had insisted fervently. "I haven't known her that long – we just met – but she's – I mean, I told her that it wouldn't be right – I didn't want to see you get hurt or lie to you – so I told her –"

Mako had held her hand up then, cutting off his stream of explanation, or lack thereof really. His mumbling and stumbling had only encouraged her stillness to strengthen, to shut her down from the inside out. When the outside became too much to bare, when the things she saw on the job were so horrendous that they nearly pushed her to her breaking point, Mako's long-honed instincts from training would kick in, forcing her to concentrate instead on her breathing, of getting past the moment so that she could finish what had been started.

She'd looked at Takeru with an empty façade, her posture seemingly relaxed and controlled even as she'd felt the raging, bewildered emotions rising like the tide somewhere deep in the back of her mind. She was fairly sure her heart was still beating, but if it wasn't, she wouldn't have been surprised, some things can only take so much pain before they stop working altogether.

"I understand," she had told him with a calm that belayed her inner turmoil. "Apparently this is as far as we go. May the two of you be happy together."

She'd turned on her heel then and left as swiftly as she'd arrived, not even bothering to glance back one last time, too afraid of what she'd see, certain it would have broken her where she'd stood.

* * *

Mako had called herself all kinds of an idiot after that day.

It had helped marginally that their friends had been just as shocked as she was.

Kaoru had been near livid. She'd refused to even acknowledge the couple at first out of respect for Mako, but when Mako had seen how much that hurt Takeru she'd managed to convince the younger woman to at least speak to her cousin.

Kaoru had done so, grudgingly, but still refused to even so much as look at "the other woman," and it had eventually created a permanent rift between her and Takeru, something Mako had been truly dismayed by and felt partially responsible for.

Mako had tried to hang out with their friends after, but whenever Takeru brought his new girlfriend around, the stiff and awkward air that had permeated the group had begun to weigh too heavily on her shoulders.

When Takeru had proposed to the girl a mere four months into the new relationship – right in front of her and all their friends no less – well, Mako had finally hit her limit. She had somehow found the wherewithal to sound out a hollow, "Congratulations" before making up an acceptable excuse and fleeing as fast as her legs could carry her.

Kotoha had found Mako later, a sobbing mess, and just as stunned as her friend.

Mako hadn't really had the heart to be around the happy couple since.

She'd made a handful of attempts at Kotoha's urging for the first couple of months following the proposal, telling her how much everyone missed her, but had long given it up by now.

She hadn't really seen anyone aside from Kotoha, Chiaki and occasionally Kaoru in the last six months. She simply couldn't stomach it.

It had felt like more than just losing Takeru, but losing her family, one that she loved with all of her heart too.

Mako's parents had been demon hunters, her father brought into the family business after marriage to her mother, but they had both been killed on the job when she was nine years old, left in the care of her strict and foreboding grandmother.

Mako's grandmother was impressive, the oldest living matriarch of their kind. This line of work usually guaranteed a rather young and _short_ life span, but her grandmother was as tough as they came – with the scars to prove it.

She'd met Takeru, of course, and to Mako's intense relief had approved of him.

After the breakup she'd sniffed, citing old age for her misjudgment and quickly dismissed him from her mind while ordering Mako to do the same.

Mako discovered that the demand was easier followed than done.

But when her emotions threatened to get the best of her, Mako had turned to her training – which turned out to be often, and threw herself into her work so that she could forget. It was hard to dwell on long-lost love when a demon with wicked nails was trying to claw your face off.

However, as miserable as she felt, Mako wasn't suicidal. Her renewed focus and determination had even garnered an approving comment or two from her grandmother – a world-shattering act in its own right.

And Mako _was_ proud of her work as of late. The distance she herself had created had turned into strength. No clinging, crying young woman to be found here.

So when Kotoha had invited her out for a treat and a chat, Mako had felt a small, if quiet smile back on her face. One that wasn't forced for the first time in she really didn't want to remember when.

And then Kotoha had slid the invitation across the table, Mako's name written boldly across the envelope. The invite itself was a frilly, lacey mess – obviously Takeru's fiancée's choice and not his.

She felt the now familiar pang that accompanied the thought of Takeru's choices and pushed it aside, along with the invitation before absently turning her ice cream parfait into something more resembling a soupy milkshake.

"What happened between Takeru and I – it's over Kotoha," she told her friend softly. "I don't have time to think about it anymore."

Kotoha bit her lip, her voice quiet, almost anxious. "Mako, the invitation is addressed to you. You should come too."

Mako was already shaking her head. "I can't, even if I had wanted to. Work has been very…busy lately. I don't have the time."

"Then make some time." Kotoha's clipped tone, so out of character for her usually buoyant friend finally garnered Mako's full attention since the ugly parchment had been pushed in front of her.

"Is everything okay?" Mako asked delicately, more than a bit wary. "Did something happen?"

Kotoha's eyes darted about furtively, causing Mako to lean forward in faux casualness to her friend.

"Mako," she dropped her voice to barely above a whisper, causing Mako to strain her ears to hear. "I think Takeru's marrying a demon."

Mako blinked a couple of times in response before letting out a shaky laugh. "I know bridezillas aren't the easiest of people to deal with Kotoha, but –"

"No! You don't understand!" Kotoha gripped her friend's arm tightly. "I think she's a _real_ demon."

Mako shook her head in exasperation. "Kotoha, our breakup was hard enough, but this is ridiculous –"

"_Mako!_" Kotoha frowned, irritation and a trace of panic evenly laced throughout her tone. "Takeru's not himself anymore."

Mako dropped her gaze back to her melted dessert, her voice soft. "Sometimes people change."

"He doesn't smile anymore, Mako. Or laugh. We hardly ever see him." Kotoha's voice caught in her throat, causing Mako to look back up at her childhood friend. "It's like she has him on a leash – under a spell or something." She gazed at her friend imploringly. "Ever since you left – it's all changed! She's _horrid_ Mako. The things she says and does," Kotoha shook her head. "And it's like Takeru doesn't see or hear it, like he _can't_."

Mako bit her lip, torn between wanting to ask more and wanting to dismiss the entire thing as ludicrous and walking away while she had the good sense not to chase after another woman's man. The tears that had begun to well up in Kotoha's eyes are what finally what convinced Mako to stay and hear her out.

"What do the guys think?"

Kotoha's gaze fell, her voice quiet with sorrow. "Chiaki had finally had enough not too long after you stopped showing up. He and Takeru got into a huge fight. He told Takeru to get his senses back together and breakup up with her or he would stop stopping by too." She winced. "They haven't spoken since – that was about four months ago now."

Mako sat in shock for a moment before finding her voice. "What about Ryunosuke and Genta?" She didn't need to ask about Kaoru's opinion, from their occasional conversations now Mako knew the young woman still was barely tolerant of Takeru, let alone his fiancée.

Kotoha shook her head. "They can't stand her either, but they've been friends for so long… They said he needs help – it's _really bad Mako_ – and they're willing to put up with her if it means keeping as close of an eye on Takeru as they're allowed to."

"Allowed to?" Mako's brow rose in question and surprise.

Kotoha nodded once. "Lacey doesn't allow Takeru out much anymore. At least, not unless he's with her and then he follows her around like a lost puppy on a rope."

"Or a puppet on a string," Mako murmured quietly to herself.

Kotoha nodded at the description, watching with relief as Mako seemed to finally let the information sink in and truly contemplate the decision.

"There's…just one other thing," Kotoha continued and the hesitancy in her voice had Mako looking back warily. "I told Kaoru about your family." Mako's brows rose high on her forehead but chose to hold her tongue in check. "You know how she and Takeru have always had a bit of a sixth sense?"

Mako nodded silently.

"Well, she confessed that she'd felt something wrong from the start, but hadn't been able to place what it was. But after we compared notes…and I suggested something maybe unusual, something beyond normal human acts was behind it…" She faced Mako steadily. "Kaoru thought about it, with that serious look on her face and agreed." She smiled quietly. "I couldn't believe it, that she'd so readily agree with something supernatural possibly being at cause, but," she bit her lip again, her tone dropping near silent once more. "It's _that bad_ Mako."

Mako felt a chill run down her spine. While it was obvious Kaoru had a sixth sense about her, the realistic young woman had always simply chalked it up to logic and finely tuned instincts. For her to "abandon logic" so readily meant that she had run out of all other options and explanations.

"When she asked what we could do about it, I told her I knew of a family who could help," Kotoha continued. "Kaoru was really wary about dragging others into the situation, but when I told her it was your grandmother who was the head of the family," she shrugged and a small, genuine smile curved her lips. "Kaoru simply nodded and agreed to let me bring the problem to you."

"Did you tell Kaoru that I was in the family business too?" Mako asked, curious and with slight trepidation.

Kotoha nodded slowly, the smile even wider on her face. "She was relieved it would most likely be you taking on the case. She said it explained a lot."

Mako let out a deep breath, one she hadn't known she'd been holding, though from the tension in her shoulders, she had been holding it for a long time – possibly for years. "Well," she slid her hand through her hair and sighed heavily, "I had planned on telling her one day anyways, better late than never I suppose."

Kotoha was nearly grinning from ear to ear as Mako inspected the wedding invitation more closely now, recognizing the handwriting across the front.

"I'm assuming Kaoru is the one who invited me then?"

Kotoha nodded eagerly. "We knew Lacey wouldn't invite you and Takeru couldn't, so Kaoru took it upon herself to snatch one of the horrid things and hand it to me to give to you." She smiled, "It'll be easier for you to get in as a guest rather than crashing the wedding, don't you think? Kaoru says she'll officially hire your family for the job, but only if you're the one to take the case."

Mako nodded. "In some ways I'll stick out like a sore thumb – everyone will know me there, aside from the bride's family," she still refused to cause Takeru's fiancée by her name, for reasons she still refused to look too closely at, "but because everyone knows me I wouldn't be spotted as an obvious intruder to a private event."

Mako took a deep, steadying breath before releasing it out slowly. "Okay, I'll take the case," she agreed. "But if it turns out she's human, I'm walking out Kotoha," Mako warned sternly, "I'm not going to breakup Takeru's wedding if she's nothing more than a bitch."

Kotoha's lip quirked at the term, biting her lip to keep her laughter in and trying to keep her face straight.

"I mean it," Mako's tone was as serious as Kotoha's had been when trying to get Mako to listen in the first place. "If she's human, I'm out. If that's the kind of woman Takeru wants to be with than it's his problem to deal with – not mine."

"And if she's a demon?" Kotoha ventured.

"Then I'll kill the little bitch myself."


	2. Requiem from Heaven's Radiance

**Author's Note:** Egads the second (and final) part grew much longer than I ever intended it to be! It is also coming much later than I had planned, but considering its length that might help to explain why... I checked for initial grammar and spelling mistakes, but as it is very late and I have to get up very early I don't have the mindset to thoroughly scour every word and sentence at the moment. If you see any egregious mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them when I go over this later. I hope that you enjoy the conclusion to what was supposed to be a short piece of writing! XD Enjoy~! Constructive Criticism is always welcomed.

* * *

_Requiem from Heaven's Radiance_

"_I_ invited her," Kaoru glared, her voice clipped and icy. "Mako is like family. She's _always_ welcome."

Mako watched intently as something flashed behind the bride-to-be's eyes, her lips turning up into a feral smile.

"My, my," Lacey's tone was steely, almost dangerous in the promise of retribution held in her eyes as she stood in the doorway of the wedding hall, trying to bodily block Mako and Kaoru's entrance. "Has the kitten finally found her claws?" She sneered; her blood red painted lips curling back to show her unnaturally white teeth. "Too little too late," she murmured so quietly that Mako almost didn't catch it. The bride-to-be stood up straighter, planting her hands firmly on her hips so as to glower down on them, though she was right about Mako's height.

"Nothing you say or do can convince him to halt this wedding," she boasted in a carrying voice, making sure the other attendees could hear her perfectly and causing Mako to flush under the sudden stares. "Takeru has made his choice – _me_."

She dropped her voice again so that only Kaoru and Mako could hear her, all but hissing at the pair of them. "_I_ am his bride, not this," she dragged her eyes up and down Mako's form with a sneer, "_little girl_." She gestured to her own full-bodied figure. "Takeru needs a _real_ woman, one who can satisfy all his," she grinned wickedly, "_desires._"

Her eyes narrowed at Kaoru, ignoring Mako completely now, as if she was nothing but an annoying gnat hovering at the periphery of her vision. "And no amount of meddling on _your_ part is going to convince your cousin to go back to what he threw away. Nice try with the old flame," she smirked, "but another failed attempt all the same." She turned as a petite brunette called out to her from across the room, waving back in answer, assuring that she'd be there momentarily.

"If you're so confident that Takeru is yours then you shouldn't be threatened by Mako's presence here," Kaoru shot, causing Lacey's head to snap back at the pair before her with a glare.

"I'm not," the dark-haired beauty all but hissed back in response. "Go ahead, let the little girl stay, for all the good it will do you. I'll take great pleasure in seeking you out in the audience later in triumph as soon as the vows are made and his _delicious_ lips have met mine in our first kiss as husband and wife." She turned on her heal and marched over to her awaiting friend, said brunette casting anxious glances back toward Mako and Kaoru even after Lacey attempted to assure her friend that everything was fine.

"Well?" Kaoru asked after a moment, not quite daring to meet Mako's eyes just yet.

"I'm torn between wishing I had worn a sleek red dress and being glad I hadn't."

Kaoru's lips cracked in an amused grin. "Didn't want to give the witch any more fuel for accusing you of trying to steal away her fiancé?"

"I don't feel like being arrested for indecent exposure," Mako's tone was light but her eyes were focused on where Lacey had made her departure. "If she had claws, my dress would be in shreds on the floor right now."

Kaoru covered a snort with her hands. "She's a real piece of work, isn't she?"

Mako nodded. "She definitely wasn't like that around us before."

Kaoru glanced at her friend once before looking away quickly. "Her claws came out plenty once you left."

The lines around Mako's lips tightened from the pain the statement produced in her chest.

Before she could apologize however, Kaoru pressed on. "So what do you think of her now? Besides the obvious?"

"She reeks of Shadows," Mako murmured, having already filled in all the gaps Kotoha had left out once the two had met up to formally conduct the arrangements between Kaoru and Mako's family. "But…"

Kaoru waited patiently for Mako to process her thoughts.

"She's almost…overconfident," Mako explained. "She's not even trying to hide her nature anymore, even though she has to know she's trying to face down a professional demon hunter." She cocked her head to the side, trying to sort out the bride-to-be. "I just can't decide why."

"Why?"

Mako made a small noise of agreement, her brows knitting together in concentration. "She's not young or new to her trade – she wouldn't have been able to hold Takeru for so long otherwise, especially with her throwing her attitude around like that. She was so careful about it before, but now she's acting as if hiding her true nature doesn't matter – as if she's already achieved her goals. The problem is that we don't know what those goals are."

"Marrying Takeru and driving a wedge between us all isn't enough of a goal?"

"But why go to such lengths?" Mako ventured out loud. "Why try to marry him at all? Why not have him entertain her for a few weeks and then drain him like they usually do? Why play it out for so long? If it's to drive us all apart, then why? If she does know who and what I am – and she doesn't appear stupid so she _has_ to know – then why hurt all of you this way?"

"Revenge?" Kaoru shrugged. "Maybe you killed off one of her Aunts not too long ago so she's getting you back by hurting all of us."

Mako shook her head. "She would have lured away Chiaki, Genta and Ryunosuke herself and then had one of her incubus cousins go after you and Kotoha, one-by-one, until they either killed all of you or I killed all of them." Her mind raced furiously, trying to figure out the nagging feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. "Something is different; some plan is in the works that can only be accomplished by this farce of a wedding today and I need to figure out what."

Kaoru studied her friend for a long time, her features slightly pale at the casualness of the conversation that Mako carried on about all their deaths, but shook the feelings away determinedly. "So what now?"

"I'm going to explore this place inside and out," Mako murmured. "I need to get a handle on all the guests here, check every nook and cranny, to see if I can figure it out before it's too late." She didn't mention that she already feared that they were racing against a very tight clock, one that she was no longer so sure she'd be beat. And that fear nearly strangled her where she stood.

Kaoru nodded, unaware of the terror Mako was doing her best to tamp down deep inside her until she could deal with it when she was alone. "I'll leave you to it then." She glanced over at her friend with a serious expression on her face. "And if _anyone_ gives you a hard time for being here, send them to me. I'll deal with them personally."

Mako shot her a grateful smile before the petite young woman moved to head off further into the wedding hall. She stopped suddenly, glancing back over at Mako with a small, tight smile.

"By the way," her smile grew to a grin. "I love the dress."

Mako glanced down at the completely black ensemble, a small smile alighting on her face as well. "I figured it would work two-fold – I could play the protesting ex-lover on one hand, and if our suspicions turned out to be true, then I would already be dressed for Lacey's funeral."

The wicked smile Kaoru sent Mako's way made her intensely grateful that Kaoru was on _her_ side in this entire debacle. She knew beyond any inkling of doubt that Kaoru was only holding back on going after Lacey's throat out in deference to Mako's profession. And if anyone deserved to take the manipulative bitch out, it would be the one who wanted Lacey's blood in payment for all the months of heartache and loss.

All the same, the smile sent a shiver up Mako's spine that she shook off as best she could before setting out to steal along the hallways as quietly as a ghost in the shadows.

* * *

It was grating on Mako's nerves to have to act like the broken, pining and discarded ex-lover.

_Not that it's too gross of an exaggeration_ she thought bitterly as she wandered down the halls, pausing for a moment when the dulcet tones of Lacey's shrieks reached her ears. Curious, Mako tiptoed further down the hall, pausing outside an ornate door, pressing her ear to the cracks to hear the soon-to-be-bride screaming about getting her hair tangled in her veil.

_A vain succubus, that's new_. Mako rolled her eyes then winced when Lacey's shrill voice racked up another notch, causing her to jerk away to save her nearly bleeding eardrums.

Mako grimaced, wondering how the bridal party would survive to the ceremony, let alone the end of the day with the way Lacey seemed to be gearing up.

_It's like she's not even bothering to hide it anymore_. _That's a gutsy move in a room full of humans._ Mako frowned. _Unless…_

She twisted the knob carefully and pushed the door open silently, taking a brief but professional look around the room and its flurry of occupants.

After the initial wave of distaste at the sight of Lacey in mounds of taffeta that made her look like a hideous vision of some kind of pale, frosted cupcake and the equally hideous pastel colors of her bridesmaids' dresses, Mako felt it – the undeniable wave of Shadows and things that creep into nightmares.

She eased the door quietly shut before walking swiftly away from the door on near-silent feet. She ducked into a quiet room before placing a hand over her pounding heart.

It wasn't just Lacey. It was the _entire_ damn bridal party!

Every last one of them was a demon, cleverly hiding in their human guises.

Mako's gut twisted painfully as she realized how quickly this could turn into a massacre if she didn't play her cards right. She was willing to bet money that the bridal brigade wasn't the only pack of demons in the place – all of the bride's family and relations could well be a demon in disguise.

She worried her lip as she thought of Takeru and Kaoru's family sitting unwittingly across the aisle from this murderous group – the perfect batch of hostages should any one thing go wrong today.

Mako was a trained professional – had been raised for this work since birth, but even she couldn't guarantee the lives of every human here when the eventual melee broke out. She was in over her head with no time to call home and ask her grandmother to send reinforcements.

She gritted her teeth before coming to a fast and hard decision – she needed allies and _fast._

The ones she thought best situated to handle this situation were the ones she had wanted to keep as far from her personal nightmare as possible, but it appeared that her grandmother's warnings had been right after all. Having friends was a liability in their line of work – sooner or later they were drawn into the Shadow World with them, willingly or not, and suddenly found their lives on par with the life span of the one who had dragged them into that world.

Mako wanted to throw a hard punch at the wall in an effort to divert her pent up frustrations as she cursed silently at herself, restraining her hands only so as not attract attention.

It was a fortunate decision as she heard footsteps not even moments later as they approached the room she had slipped into.

As silent as an apparition, Mako slipped behind a heavily brocaded curtain near the windows, quieting her breathing and slowing her heartbeats as she waited tensely inside the folds of fabric.

Mako counted the sound of at least five different footfalls before the heavy, cold weight of Shadows leached into the room with them. She stood as still as a statue, not daring to twitch so much as an eyelash lest they be notified of her presence. Official invitation or not, these demons would be far too comfortable in numbers to care about taking on a lone human who was caught spying.

With the resounding _click_ of the door closing, the demons inside seemed unable to contain their glee any longer.

"Quite the turn out, eh?"

"Did you see all the humans? Like sheep for the fodder."

"Oh and they smelled absolutely _heavenly_. So much fresh, young blood in one room."

"And no one here to stop us from the _feast_ at the reception tonight."

The sound of unreserved elation filled the room, chilling the blood in Mako's veins. Her muscles ached to yank out her weapons, shove aside the heavy fabric and finish them were they stood. She tamped down on the near-burning desire with the sharp reminder that she would be heard from in here – too close to Lacey's dressing room. It was still too soon.

"I heard that a demon hunter is here," one voice whispered, as if afraid that mere mention of one would cause one to appear.

There was a scoff from several of the others.

"What hunter would be aware of today to try and stop it?"

"No, no! I heard the same thing. They say it's the young one. You know…_her_."

A beat of silence followed swiftly by, "The one Lacey stole her human pet from?"

A hiss of irritation broke into the room.

"I _told_ her not to play with a hunter's mate! She'll bring death upon us all for her folly."

"Don't be stupid, the prophecy clearly stated that it _had_ to be those two."

Only long years of training kept Mako from making a sudden motion at the news. She held her breath, afraid to miss a single word.

"You don't know that!" One of the demons argued back. "It could be another mated pair."

An aggravated sigh preceded the sharp retort. "Lacey has held her pet under thrall for well over half a year and yet he still lives!"

A sound of surprise and begrudging admiration answered. "A rare specimen."

"Perfect for a union with a hunter."

"Exactly! The prophecy clearly states that the union of a mated couple such as those two would have created a near unstoppable force – ensuring an even stronger line for generations to come."

"And the two would have powerful allies," another chipped in. "Each would have their own specialties. We wouldn't stand a chance; we would be reduced in numbers to the point of the Age of Light."

Hisses and snarls followed the mention of time in which the demon hunters had once been plentiful – skilled and ruthless in their eradication of all demon kind. It had been an immense time of peace and prosperity for the human race. Until the Dark Ages, the world falling into chaos as the demons rallied and laid waste to village after village of Hunters. Humans suffered great losses, but eventually the demon hunters managed to create stability once more.

The war had never ended between the two, though with the changes of the world had come changes in the battles. Most were fought in secrecy and darkness as the world at large forget about the Shadows in its past, kept at bay by the lives and sacrifices of the hunters who remained. Demons were now nothing more than scary tales told at night with a laugh and theatrics.

That was okay though. Mako and the others like her preferred it that way. Some days she felt like she'd trade anything in the world to forget and laugh along with the rest of the world.

Other days she was proud and glad to be part of the wall that kept the nightmares to the dreamlands of unreality, nothing more than myths and whispers in the dark. Days like today.

"You really think it's them then? You think the prophesized pair is the young demon hunter and her mate?"

"All of the signs point to them."

"And if we're wrong?"

A sharp bark of laughter. "Then we'll still be leaving the bodies of several dozen humans and a broken Hunter in our wake!"

Mako's blood rushed hot in her veins, her jaw clenching in anger.

"Why this ceremony though? Is it merely to grant us the chance at a wonderful feast?"

"What better way to celebrate the shattering of the Young One than to leave behind the corpses of those she once cared for to find?"

Malicious laughter filled the room.

"Besides, the Young One's mate won't survive sundown in the condition he's in if he remains under Enthrallment any longer."

"But what if the rumored demon hunter skulking about _is _the Young One? Lacey stealing him away didn't stop her – it only made her angry. She's picking us off with the ferocity and precision of one of the Hunters of old."

"That's why Lacey wanted to go through with this wedding. News of the marriage would break her, and the news of his imminent death of him and all those they once loved would _shatter_ her – the end of a once proud dynasty."

"Even if the Young One and her mate aren't the prophesized ones, she will no longer be a concern of ours by nightfall."

A sudden knock at the door cut off the conversation as a new voice entered the room, informing all those inside that the ceremony would begin shortly – all guests were to begin heading to their seats.

Mako stood in silence behind the curtain long after the door had closed and the footsteps had begun to fade away.

It all made sense in a way that thoroughly shocked and horrified her.

Both Takeru and Kaoru were spiritually observant and strong fighters, but they lacked the training to hone their skills to make them a force to be reckoned with within the Shadow World, something Mako's family would all too easily be able to provide.

Being around Mako practically their entire lives had allowed Kotoha to hone her senses and skills, but she was more "aware" than combat-ready, waiting only for that push that would send her into focusing her power. A push that very well could be started with the risk of imminent death to her loved ones in an event all too eerie similar to one like the one about to break loose that very day.

Genta and Ryunosuke too had shown an innate aptitude for the craft – their "gut feelings" all too precise for Mako's comfort at times, even if they had no clue as to the depth of the things they were sensing.

Mako felt her insides churning, her thoughts whirling too fast to contemplate the full-extent of the prophecy at this point in time. Instead she focused on the one point that mattered most – the lives and wellbeing of every last person beginning to gather in the wedding chapel.

As silent as a whisper she slipped out from behind the curtain and stole back into the quieting hallways. She shoved her thoughts and feelings down, willing to study them later when she felt like she could breathe again.

A quick ear to the door of the bridal dressing room told her that the wedding hadn't begun just yet, and she quickened her pace down the hallways. With every stride she affirmed her decision to alert both Kotoha and Kaoru to the direness of the situation, wishing with all her heart that she didn't have to drag them into this mess but knowing she couldn't handle this alone any longer. If she was lucky, maybe the two could convince Chiaki, Genta and Ryunosuke to listen to her long enough too.

_Looks like you're bringing the prophecy to fruition with your own two hands_. Mako tried to shove the thought away but it dangled before her whether she wanted to see it or not.

_Maybe it was fate after all_, the insistent voice continued. _Maybe all Lacey did was delay it, or perhaps only strengthen the hazy prediction into solid reality. If she hadn't gone so far to pull them all apart…_

Mako shook her head, firmly dislodging the nagging thoughts and shoving them to the back of her mind to simmer quietly in the background as she focused on the most important thing – making sure they all survived the night before they even contemplated the future…or the consequences of the past.

* * *

"You were right, something is wrong with Takeru – _vastly_ wrong." Mako closed her eyes, exhaling slowly before opening them again. "And it's partly my fault for being too blind to see the signs before now. But I promise I'll make these right again – I'll do everything in my power to correct my mistake." She met all of the eyes before her for a moment. "I _will_ save him."

Ryunosuke and Genta exchanged alarmed and bewildered glances.

"Is there something you're not telling us, or was that just an overwhelmingly dramatic speech from a scorned ex-lover?" Ryunosuke asked, disbelief coloring his tone.

Mako flushed but her response was steely. "I'm saying that if this farce of a wedding takes place that Takeru won't live to see the dawn." She winced at her own tone. She hadn't meant to snap back. They had every right to be suspicious, protective and defensive but they didn't have time for this. _He_ didn't have time for this. She needed their cooperation and she needed it _now_, consequences and exposure be damned.

"Has it really become that bad?" Kotoha's voice was barely above a whisper, her face devoid of nearly all color as the full weight of Mako's words hit her.

Mako gave her closest friend a long, steadying look before nodding reluctantly, her voice softening even as she knew it wouldn't do much to help temper the blow. "It's worse than we thought." She bit her lip, battling back the fears that were thrashing just under the surface of her seemingly impassive façade. "I never dreamed of something on this large of a scale, Kotoha." She winced. "Or that our actions – my feelings – the sheer _ramifications _of –," she shook her head to clear her thoughts and met her friend's terrified eyes. "You were right, and I apologize for _ever_ doubting your sincerity."

Mako sighed deeply, her gaze flitting toward the main wedding hall. "I caused this and I intend to fix it."

Kotoha laid a gentle hand on Mako's arm causing Mako to look at her with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I was difficult."

Kotoha's curls bounced as she shook her head. "I probably would have done the same."

Mako's smile was grateful, even if she didn't believe for an instant that Kotoha would have all but plugged her ears with her own fingers and ran off with hardly a second glance back. She sighed again, cursing herself for the umpteenth time since she'd walked through the front doors of the wedding hall, before turning back to the rest of their small group. "And I'm sorry to have dragged all of you into this mess with me. I had hoped you would never have to know about –," she sighed in bitterness and regret, "but shadows always leave their mark."

"So…I gather we're _not_ talking about simply stopping a wedding between our friend and the Wicked Witch of the East anymore?" Genta tentatively spoke up into the silence left in the wake of Mako's words.

Her answering smile was bitter. "I'm afraid not."

"What? Is she part of a gang or something?"

Kotoha gave a half-nod. "Something like that."

"What do we do?" Kaoru's face was stone but her eyes lit with a raging fire. _No one_ messed with her family, human or otherwise.

"Let it take place," Mako answered back.

There was a beat of silence before a chorus of disbelief rose up.

Mako held her hands up in supplication, trying to ward off the accusations that were about to start flying. "Trust me," she pleaded. "Let this wedding take place as planned, completely unhindered, so that you can remove as many of the groom's relations as possible without arousing suspicions."

"What about Takeru?" Chiaki demanded, his brow furrowed in confusion and irritation.

Mako shook her head. "Leave him be; he is more hindrance than help right now and she might accelerate the damage if she suspects he's been interfered with."

"Accelerate the damage?" Genta's voice was colored with shock and alarm.

Ryunosuke was all but fuming where he stood. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"What about Lacey?" Kaoru interrupted before the two could bog down the conversation with misguided accusations.

Mako's gaze darkened, her voice deadly in her response. "I'll take care of her _personally_."

"And Takeru?" Kaoru continued, her sight fixed on Mako as the others watched the conversation like a tennis match, hanging onto every word in an even mixture of fascination and befuddlement. "What will happen to him when you engage her?"

"The Enthrallment will shatter once I have her attention," Mako assured her friend, long-standing knowledge and experiences the only thing keeping her own emotions under lock and key. "She won't be able to maintain her hold on him and face me at the same time."

Kaoru studied her friend for a long time before finally nodding her head in acceptance.

Kotoha breathed a silent sigh of relief, even as the guys now stood gazing at the two in trepidation, faint traces of disbelief still coloring their expressions, as if not willing to believe what they were hearing.

"Enthrallment?" Genta tried, grasping at the odd term in faint desperation.

Mako nodded, partially distracted as she reviewed everything she knew about the situation, "A succubus's main weapon, though her claws can be wicked when forced into a physical confrontation."

"Succubus," Chiaki deadpanned.

"A female demon that prefers young men in love as their victims," she answered, her gaze slipping towards the hall once again, checking to make sure they were still undisturbed. Everything could go from bad to worse if they were discovered before they were ready. Their little alcove off the main hallway wouldn't go undisturbed for long, especially with several key members of the wedding party missing with the ceremony about to begin any moment. "The high level of emotions are perfect for her to feed off."

Everyone except Kotoha was staring at Mako with similar looks of incredulity until Kaoru muttered, "Love, huh?"

Mako blinked, finally brought back to the conversation at hand and flushed. "It was clever," she admitted begrudgingly, "using our feelings against us the way she did." Her arms slipped up to embrace herself in a subconscious gesture. "I loved Takeru, but was always so terrified that it would end – that he'd find out about my world – about the Shadows and monsters that lived there – and leave. That he'd reject me and find someone new, someone who could live fully in the Light."

"So when Takeru met Lacey," Kaoru spoke, connecting the dots as fast as ever.

Mako nodded. "I'd thought my fear had come true. I was so blind-sided – so confused, so devastated, so – _resigned_ – I didn't see the signs staring me in the face." She frowned, her eyes glinting with guilt and anger. "All those hints – the _gloating_…" She scowled before gathering herself back together and meeting Kaoru's eyes. "They only targeted him because of me."

"Why?"

Mako blinked, looking to Genta who had asked the question. "Why…?"

"Why target you or Takeru or _any_ of us for that matter?"

Mako stared back at his immovable stance, his eyes silently demanding that Mako give a concise and prompt explanation for _exactly_ what the hell was going on.

She drew in a deep breath to steady her nerves, knowing full well that she not only needed their cooperation in this, but that they too needed answers. They _deserved_ them.

"I come from a long line of demon hunters," she told them without preamble, pushing forward despite their varied expressions of disbelief and surprise. "You could say it's a family business – an ancient one – one that's been practiced for more generations than I care to count. All the myths, legends and stories you tell one another to give you a chill in the dark of the night – they're all true. Every last monster, creature and figment of your childhood nightmares are as real as I am standing here before you now. And it's my family's job – _my_ job – to help eradicate them, to give humans a fighting chance."

The three young men before her blinked openly, their minds abuzz with the sheer magnitude of what Mako was telling them. They would have believed to be a poorly delivered joke if it wasn't for the serious faces of all three young women before them. Or the stark evidence that was Takeru himself that screamed all too loudly for Mako's argument.

"When you told me there might be a just cause for breaking up this wedding, you didn't exactly mention all hell breaking loose if we didn't," Chiaki muttered, his arm slipping around Kotoha, drawing her in close as if to hold onto something solid and real in a suddenly unstable reality.

Mako nodded solemnly. "Kotoha told me of her suspicions, but I wasn't willing to believe her at first." She flushed. "To my detriment – to all of ours." She shut her eyes briefly, her hands fisting at her sides as she rode out the waves of panic for a brief moment, reining them in quickly before they caused her to lose control. "But she provided me with enough evidence to inspect the situation, especially once Kaoru added her own suspicions."

She met all of their eyes individually, her sorrow and regret shimmering all too brightly in them. "I'm sorry I left all of you behind to deal with this on your own, to watch what was happening to Takeru alone." Her heart clenched tightly in her chest. "I completely understand if you're reluctance to believe a word I say now – I know how insane this all sounds. But I _need_ you to trust me in this. Takeru _will die_ otherwise. That's neither an exaggeration nor a cleverly crafted scheme from a 'scorned ex-lover'." She saw Ryunosuke wince from the corner of her eye but pushed on. "You've seen the evidence of his condition yourselves; you can't deny what your own eyes have seen."

"But…demons? Enthrallment?" Genta shook his head. "You have to admit it's a lot to take in."

Mako's smile was grim. "I know. If you believe anything I say tonight, believe that had I any other choice you all would have continued to live in the Light – completely unaware of the Shadows that follow in your footsteps."

"Lurking in some corner to spring out on us unawares," Chiaki muttered.

Genta nodded. "While I suppose ignorance is bliss, I have to agree with Chiaki on this. It's easier to be on the alert and ready for these things than wait around as live bait to snatch us with our guards down."

"Like they did to Takeru," Ryunosuke pointed out.

Mako flushed, her eyes dropping to the floor. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Let's save the apologies and blame game for another time," Kaoru interrupted. "We need to focus on what's going on _now_."

"Why is Lacey doing this?" Kotoha asked, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Why even continue the Enthrallment this lone? Why go so far as a wedding?"

Mako hesitated briefly before revealing what she had seen and overheard, trying in vain to skim over the mention of the prophecy.

Ryunosuke, as sharp as ever, pointedly asked her to describe the prophecy in detail.

With one last quiet sigh, knowing they were full well on their way to fulfilling it now she divulged everything she had discovered.

A stunned silence followed the startling revelation.

"How much of it true I don't know," she reminded them softly. "It could all be a fabrication, an embellishment of the truth even, but what is certain is that _I_ am their ultimate goal and they're using Takeru to achieve it."

There was a beat of silence in which everyone looked caught each other's eyes, communicating without words before Genta piped up. "So what do we do?"

Mako felt a small, grateful smile finally break across her face, the tension in her shoulders alleviating minutely, even if the burden of no longer having to do this alone was supplanted with an even greater and a much more daunting one.

* * *

"Loved, huh?"

Mako blinked but Kaoru wasn't looking at her, her gaze intent on Takeru as they stood unobtrusively in the shadowed recesses of the chapel, Ryunosuke and Genta already in place near the altar with Chiaki and Kotoha in their seats on the groom's side of the room.

"You said 'loved', past tense. So you've moved on, then?" Her tone was inquiring, seemingly mildly curious, hinting at nothing more, but Mako didn't miss the tense set to her shoulders or the firm line of her mouth.

Mako shook her head, her voice quiet. "I tried," she admitted. "I tried my damnedest – thought I had nearly succeeded too, but when Kotoha handed me that invitation…it all came flooding back."

There was a slight quirk to Kaoru's lips now. "Like a tidal wave?"

Mako smiled back wryly. "It gave me new insight into the phrase 'drowning in your emotions', that's for sure."

Another quiet pause, the tension lessened somewhat.

"And now?" Kaoru's voice was quiet.

Mako's gaze was drawn to Takeru's wasted form instantly, as if it pulled at her near instinctually, one that she had long given up on fighting. Her voice was even quieter. "I love him," her smile was soft, if not tinged with remorse. "I think I always will, no matter what comes of today."

"But…?" Kaoru prompted upon hearing the unfinished thought Mako held back.

"It's for him to decide," her eyes met Kaoru's momentarily before being tugged back to her former lover. "I can't change who or what I am. He'll have to accept me and my whole world or he can't." Her smile was rueful. "I'd be lying though if I didn't say there was a tiny ray of hope mixed in with all the fear and doubt, even if it's only a fool's hope." Her eyes grew downcast. "That is, if he ever manages to forgive me for what I did – for leaving him to her mercy." She grimaced, taking in his sunken, almost death-like appearance and her insides twisted painfully. She forced back the bile that swam in her stomach at how she had let it get to this point – that she had almost been too late to even hope to change anything.

"He might surprise you."

Mako shot her friend a questioning look.

"You know our family is more spiritually aware than most."

Mako nodded at the statement, even though Kaoru hadn't been looking for an answer.

"We suspected _something_ was going, even if we weren't entirely sure what. You used to reek of this _Shadow World_ sometimes. Though we didn't know that's what it was at the time."

Mako winced. "Suspecting and knowing are two vastly different things."

"True," Kaoru nodded, "but Takeru's also stronger than he looks." Her gaze darkened. "Or _did_ look."

"He's lasted under Enthrallment _much_ longer than any human we've ever encountered before," Mako agreed.

Kaoru made a quiet murmur of noise that might have been agreement before, "He also loves _you_ more than I've seen anyone love another before." She peeked over at Mako to see the other young woman blushing heavily before turning her gaze back to her cousin. "I think that's why he's held on so long under her curse."

Mako didn't reply but when Kaoru glanced over at her friend, the look she saw in her eyes gave Kaoru a small, quiet smile of triumph.

* * *

The sudden sound of an organ playing had the two young women glancing at each other.

Mako nodded at her friend. "Show time."

Kaoru's smile was grim. "No matter which way this goes, I suppose it'll be over tonight, huh?"

Mako's eyes were pieces of flints as the bride began her entrance, all smug smiles and fluttering eyelashes. "It won't be our end, I assure you." Her gaze never left the dark haired demoness as she floated down the aisle in her pastry-inspired gown.

As if sensing her presence the bride glanced over and spotted Mako lurking in the shadows, a scowling Kaoru at her side.

Lacey shot the pair of them a haughty, triumphant look before fixing her gaze hungrily on the man awaiting her at the altar.

With a slight sway of his body that belied the dazed, adoring smile on his face, Takeru brought his fiancée to stand beside him on the raised floor, halting them in front of the minister.

Mako had warned her friends over and over again that they were not to interfere with the wedding procession until she gave the signal, but suddenly found herself tested against her own advice.

It was taking every last ounce of her resolve not to charge up there and rip Takeru away from the demon binding him to her will.

She could feel the tension rolling off Kaoru's shoulders as the minister began his speech.

Kaoru kept glancing at Mako's set features, anxiously awaiting the signal to begin discreetly escorting her family from the room.

The plan was to wait until all the demons present were too focused on the proceedings, lost in their gloating and presumptuous celebrations to heed the warning signs they themselves had initiated.

With the barest nod of her head, Mako signaled to Kaoru to start.

The shorter young woman calmly walked to her nearest relation and whispered discreetly in the other's ear. Mako watched intently, one eye on Takeru's family's reactions and the other constantly sweeping out over the demonic family just across the aisle.

It was with a deep sigh of relief that the demons were too careless in their supposed triumphant to pay much heed to a few measly humans exiting the room.

One of Takeru's relations stood up so fast at Kaoru's whispered words that Lacey caught the motion. Mako froze, tensed to spring into action, but the woman who had stood simply glared daggers at the bride before swiftly turning on her heels and marching out with her nose held high, as if she smelled something rank in the room.

A look of irritation crossed Lacey's face as she turned to Mako, only to see the young demon hunter standing miserably and forlornly from the same corner she had remained huddled in since the start of the ceremony. She followed Mako's gaze to see it fixed solely on Takeru and smiled gleefully before turning back to the minister, perfectly sated with the anguish she was creating.

Mako, for her part, let out a slow even breath once Lacey was distracted again. She wasn't entirely sure what Kaoru was telling her relatives, but judging by the looks of anger and hatred they were throwing Lacey as they exited, she felt the tiniest thrill of vindictive pleasure. They had agreed not to tell Kaoru's family the whole truth, but something as akin to it as possible. Mako wondered with amusement what they were hearing to storm out as they were.

She listened back in on the minister's voice and realized it was her cue to slip into the audience.

Making sure to keep her features schooled and downcast, Mako unobtrusively shuffled into one of the now-unoccupied seats left behind by a departing couple. Kaoru took this as her signal to halt her whisperings so as to not draw any unwarranted attention to their group and take her own seat.

The real fun was about to begin.

They all braced themselves as the minister spoke the immortal words.

"Speak now or forever hold your peace."

Mako felt momentarily overwhelmed with a thrill of fear and anxiety, her heart hammering in a staccato rhythm in her chest as she breathed in deeply, her eyes trained on the floor as she rose shakily from her seat.

Her cheeks flushed, her voice trembling slightly, she spoke the words every couple dreaded to hear.

"I object to this union."

She could feel the eyes of everyone in the room focused on her, the hisses of disbelief and anger biting through her as she kept her eyes diverted. Mako felt it the instant Lacey laid her eyes on her; she was sure that if looks alone could kill she would have been a pile of ash on the floor already.

With a calm but slightly surprised tone the minister's voice breached the growing hostility in the room. "May we inquire as to why, Miss?"

Mako's eyes flashed up and met the demon's standing at the altar with her grip tightening on Takeru's wrist, his body beginning to sway dangerously. Anger coursed hot and thick through Mako's veins, any fears or doubts washed away in that single instant. Her gaze narrowed in hatred and revulsion but her voice was steady. "I don't approve of unholy matrimony."

In the moment of shock left behind by Mako's words, she slipped a wicked looking silver gun from within her clutch; the engravings and symbols upon its surface caught the light and set it gleaming.

Within a fraction of a second Mako set off two rounds towards the altar, the first bullet sweeping dangerously close to Lacey's grip on Takeru, causing the demoness to jerk her hand back. The second bullet hit its mark, embedding deep into the succubus' shoulder, wrenching an unearthly shriek of pain from the demon enchantress, her body stumbling back from the blow.

With a gasp like a drowning man finally finding the surface, Takeru stumbled in the opposite direction, immediately unsteady on his feet now that his body was no longer being pulled around like a puppet on a string. Genta was at his side in an instant, helping to catch his friend and ease him to the ground.

Pandemonium broke out instantly in the small chapel.

The remnants of Takeru's family that they hadn't managed to spirit away to safety were jumping out of their chairs, unsure of where to go or what to do first. The demons on the other hand either immediately converged upon the exits or began shedding their human guises to ready themselves for the incoming battle.

For her part, Mako had already been on the move the instant her second round was fired, her focus on getting as quickly to the altar as possible. She shot of a few more rounds behind her as the first wave of demons began to try and congregate around her. She didn't have to turn and check to see if her bullets made their mark, the shrieks of the dying told her all she needed to know.

When more shrieking reached her ears, Mako glanced over her shoulder as she jumped over the remaining pew in front of her. With a smirk and a wave of gratitude she saw that Kotoha and Kaoru were already containing the problem, holy water and blessed silver in hand. Then she was making the last leap that placed her directly between the former bride and groom.

Mako's hand was steady as she held her gun pointed toward Lacey's face, said demoness hissing in outrage and pain. She made to move toward the succubus when a single voice had her pausing in her steps.

"Mako?"

Mako felt the exhausted, confused and all too familiar voice travel deep within her soul and nearly gasped out loud from the sound of it. With every ounce of training she had she forced herself not to turn around but instead to walk steadily back toward the voice, her gun still trained on the succubus until she was even with the trio behind her.

"Give it to me."

Mako glanced briefly over at Ryunosuke's determined but pale face. "Are you sure?"

He nodded, his lips a tight, thin line, in response.

She felt a tickle of pride that despite his initial disbelief he had decided to trust her, and when all hell had broken loose he had stepped up to the plate rather than run screaming like most normal humans were wont to do. As she transferred the warm gun to Ryunosuke's hand she glanced quickly around, feeling that spark of pride turn to a flame as she realized how well all her friends were handling the situation.

They were ashen faced – whether from the remains of the demons as they went up in flames once their heads parted ways with their shoulders or from the sheer unreality of the situation, Mako wasn't sure, but they remained steady and focused as she slowly allowed herself to kneel down and meet the face she was most anxious to see.

"Mako?" Takeru's voice sounded as weak as the rest of him, causing her hands to immediately flutter over his prone form, checking for any other signs of injury or harm now that she was finally close enough to inspect him up close.

"Yes," she assured him, her voice soft but her smile remained slightly melancholic in her guilt. "It's me."

"What – what happened?" His dazed eyes took in all the chaos around them. "Where are we?" He finally spotted the enraged bride across the altar from them, Ryunosuke's hands steady as he kept a gun pointed at her hatred-filled eyes. "What are we doing in a chapel?"

"It's okay now," she answered, her fingers stopping just short of physically touching him, suddenly vastly unsure of herself now that she had ascertained that it had been an Enthrallment and nothing else. She smiled gently before moving to stand, freezing when his warm hand encircled her wrist.

Mako's eyes found and locked upon his bewildered ones, her heart slamming into her ribcage with an all-mighty lurch. She read the questions and hurt in his eyes as easily as if he had voiced them out loud and felt her body sway for an instant. Before she could second guess her decision she slid her arms around his too-thin shoulders and hugged him fiercely to her, burying her face in his neck for a moment, allowing all her pent up and swirling emotions rise to the surface. Unbidden tears stung her eyes when he embraced her back, a sob nearly breaking the surface when he could only hug her back with a fraction of his former strength.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"What for?" He asked, startled and confused by the apology.

She shook her head, the lump in her throat threatening to choke her. "Everything," was all she could manage back at the moment.

"The last thing I remember was getting ready to propose to you," he admitted. "And now we're in a church."

Mako froze as his words sank in. She pulled back enough to meet his warm, dark eyes, a flood of warmth washing through her as her tears threatened to spill over.

Ever so gently she leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek, whispering, "I'm glad you're back," over his skin.

Now Takeru was completely bewildered. "Did I go somewhere?"

Her smile was bittersweet. "Only for a moment."

The sound of a gunshot close at hand and a frustrated female hiss reaching her ears had reality crashing back in around Mako. She pulled back with great reluctance from his weak but all-too-familiarly warm embrace and smiled gently. "I have to take care of a few things, but I promise to come back this time."

"This time?"

Her smile froze on her lips but she shook her head to keep him from pressing her. "They'll explain," she gestured at Genta and Ryunosuke before giving his hands a tight squeeze and standing in a single, fluid motion, her gaze immediately locked on the appearance of a young woman bleeding crimson all over her bridal gown from the bullet wound in her arm.

"Demon hunter," Lacey snarled at Mako.

Mako gave an elegant, mocking bow, her eyebrow lifting smartly in silent question.

"You'll pay for this," the almost-bride warned, her voice dripping venom.

In a practiced motion, Mako reclaimed her gun from Ryunosuke with a "see to him," her gaze never leaving the demoness'. "You had to know this would be the end result once I discovered what was going on," Mako addressed the crimson-stained female before her.

Lacey's lips curled in a snarl, her eyes flashing death before she flew towards Mako, her nails elongating as she drew closer.

Mako shot off a couple rounds, but the succubus had abandoned her human guise, giving an unnatural speed to her movements and dodged the bullets with an apparent ease.

Mako had the wicked knife she had strapped to her calf unsheathed from the confines of her boot before the demoness could get far, swiping at her attacker's body and causing her to jump away from the deadly blade.

The succubus stood poised at the end of the altar, her fangs bared in a hiss as her black wings snapped out on either side of her back. The fair-skinned beauty was now covered in a mottled mix of swirling dark marks, her once beautiful blue eyes now reflecting an unearthly icy gaze. Long, dark hair hung loosely around her shoulders – the once perfectly coiffed curls tumbling out as small, dark, curved horns appeared on either side of her head.

For a demon, Lacey was still alluring, if in a more sinister, terrifying way. Power radiated off her from her long, enriched feeding, and it was that power that would warn even the most careless of humans away now. Gone was the devastating beauty, in its place was a siren of Hell, one who would all too readily and eagerly lead her victims to their destruction and death from the purest part of their soul – the heart.

"Bitch," Lacey hissed in fury.

Mako's countenance hardened into her hunter's stone-faced façade. "The feeling is mutual."

With an enraged shriek the succubus launched herself at Mako full force, Mako having just enough time to shoot off her remaining rounds, the bullets managing to do enough damage to the demoness' wings to render them unusable before Mako was jerking away from the flash of claws determined to take her face off.

From there it was a flurry of movements as the two danced around each other, Mako's blade hitting their mark more often than not while she managed to dodge most of Lacey's clutches.

At a sound of surprise and alarm behind her, Mako made a misstep as she glanced behind her with a trill of fear to see a demon, its fangs and angry red eyes closing in rapidly upon Genta and Takeru as Ryunosuke struggled against another demon, unable to get to the pair in time. In the next instant the demon gave an agonized shriek as a pointed blade surfaced in the center of its chest to be removed and relocated along its neckline in a swift, proficient manner.

In the wake of ashes stood Kaoru, her eyes blazing and her face hard, "Stay away from my cousin."

There was a brief moment of intense relief before a flash of pain raked across the left side of Mako's face. She turned back to see a triumphant grin spread across Lacey's face.

Mako swiped casually at the blood trailing down from where the succubus' nails had finally found home. She studied the blood on her fingertips with a false impassivity before glancing back at the demoness. "Celebrate all you want," she told her. "It'll be the last time you lay a finger on any of us _ever_ again."

The look she threw Lacey's way had the grin vanishing instantly from the succubus' face, something akin to fear quickly settling in its place.

Mako was on top of the demoness in an instant, her blade moving nearly too fast to see. It was all Lacey could do to keep each blow from being a fatal one. With a last, deft move of her wrist, Mako had the demoness stumbling to the ground, pinned to the altar as the silver blade embedded itself deeply into her shoulder. Lacey shrieked in pain as the blessed sword made contact with her blood stream followed by another as Mako ripped the blade out, only to press it threateningly into the succubus' throat.

"I should make you suffer for what you did to him," Mako breathed, her eyes deadly.

"You wouldn't dare," Lacey challenged, she hissed as the blade pressed deeper into her throat, eliciting small beads of blood to surface.

"For all the pain and turmoil you caused Takeru, my friends – _me_," Mako's face was blank but her tone held a dark edge. "I could. And very easily I might add." She eased the blade up marginally.

"But I won't," she glowered at her adversary. "I don't sink to the level of _your kind_. I don't play with other's lives for my own enjoyment; I don't revel in their pain and torture."

"At least with me he would have died happy; blissfully unaware of anything but his overwhelming feelings of love," Lacey spit, her eyes narrowed to angry slits.

"That's not true happiness," Mako snapped back. "It's a mockery – a human doll dancing to your bidding. Maybe it would be easier to die in an ignorant bliss but that's not love either. Takeru deserves more than that – he deserves a _life_."

"And what about you?" Lacey smirked devilishly. "What can you offer him but pain? When you die, your life as short as all those who came before you; when he and his loved ones are under constant attack from the world that lies just within the shadows of the streets – what then? How will you explain that he _deserved_ that life?"

"It doesn't have to me," Mako's voice was quiet, her heart panging in her chest at the stark truth in the demoness's words. "So long as he's happy; so long as he's _alive_."

Lacey's laugh would have been musical if the joy in it wasn't so thoroughly tainted by malice. "And how long will that be?" Her grin was wicked. "As much fun as this has been, it wasn't all planned on a whim – it won't just be you they come after anymore. My kin will be out for blood – for _revenge_ – and everyone you hold dear has just been painted with a bright, shiny new target on their backs."

"I'll protect them," Mako hissed through her teeth, her blood boiling in anger and the faintest traces of fear.

Cruel, amused laughter filled the air. "You can't watch everyone every minute of every day," Lacey reminded her opponent.

"You could hide them away," she admitted, correctly reading the thought that flashed across Mako's face, "but that wouldn't really be _living_ now, would it?" Her lips curled in faux sympathy, her voice taunting her enemy in unbridled joy. "You were better off alone, _Young One_. Alone, they would have lived, but with you," her eyes sparked with malice, "with you they're going to _wish_ they were _dead_."

In a move nearly too fast to see Mako swiftly removed the succubus's head from her shoulders, cutting off whatever other taunting words and prophecies the demoness had tried to spill off her lips.

Mako's expression was one of stone as the stood from the pile of ash that had once been an enemy. The emotions swirling inside her however, were turbulent and nearly overwhelming. She glanced over to see Kaoru frowning at the pile of ash that had once been her cousin's torturer.

Kaoru glanced up from the residual dust, her frown deepening at what she saw in the face of the friend before her.

Mako avoided Kaoru's disapproving stare as she looked out over the ash strewn chapel, all other physical traces of demons cleared from the room. She closed her eyes and focused, curious to find that all lingering presence of Shadows had vanished, even the ones who had fled the room.

Clenching her spent gun in one hand and her silver blade in the other Mako moved to leave the room and inspect the reasons for the sudden lack of demon activity.

"Where are you going?" Kaoru's hard voice sounded from behind her.

"To make sure the last of them don't get far," Mako answered without turning around, determined to leave without a second glance back.

"Bullshit."

Mako froze, her body tensing at the underlying accusation.

"I heard what she said Mako," Kaoru told her. "And she's _wrong_."

Mako felt tears instantly well up in her eyes, part of her wanting to do nothing more than turn around and run back to her friends, the other just stubborn enough to urge her to continue walking out the doors and leave them behind for good this time – to offer what little protection she could in distancing them from the nightmares that would surely await them if they traveled any further into the shadows with her.

"Death follows us everywhere," Mako reminded her quietly once she could speak past the lump lodged in her throat. "That's the reality of the Shadow world; she wasn't lying about that."

"We're all going to die one day anyways," Kaoru responded mulishly.

Mako spun on her heel, frustration and anguish welling up on her features. "I already lost my parents to this world Kaoru!" She felt the warm moisture as it betrayed her will and spilled over. "I can't lose more people I love to it. I_ won't_."

"Then train us," was Kaoru's short, snap reply, even as her features held a new understanding and sympathy.

Mako was too thrown off-guard by the statement to retaliate. "What?"

"Train us to defend ourselves," Kaoru continued. "To protect ourselves and everyone else from these creatures."

"We're family," Kotoha's voice was quiet as she broke into the conversation for the first time. "And family sticks together, Mako."

Mako gaped at her friend's stubborn faces, caught up in a strange whirl frustration, elation and fear.

"Well said, dear," a voice spoke from the doorway of the chapel that had all of them whirling toward the sound.

"Grandmother!" Mako choked out, stunned. "How did you – _why _did you – what?"

An aged, tough looking woman stood in the remnants of the doors, her hair shot clear through with silver. Power and knowledge radiated off her like the noon-day sun as she took in each person of the room individually for several long minutes.

"I saw the wedding invitation on the table," the older woman answered as she continued to study them. "It absolutely reeked of Shadows." Her sharp gaze pinned Mako where she stood. "I'm disappointed that you were unable to realize this Mako," she reprimanded. "_Severely_ disappointed."

Mako's gaze dropped to her shoes. It didn't matter how old or skilled she became; her grandmother could make anyone feel like an incompetent child with a mere glance.

"But," her grandmother continued, her tone softening in the slightest as she took in Takeru's weakened state and the looks of exhaustion and incredulity etched upon the other's. "I suppose, given the circumstances, I will let this one go unpunished."

Mako's head snapped up to meet her grandmother's empathetic eyes. "But only this one time," she warned.

"I rather like the looks and spirits of the little family you've garnered," the wizened matriarch continued. "They have great potential, though we will have to break them in from the ground up – once they've all had a breather or two and time to process what has happened here today." She eyed Mako with an appraising look. "Apparently the 'Young One' and her group of friends have managed to inspire a resounding thread of fear in the demonic community. Something about a prophecy coming true if what those blathering idiots were shouting while they were fleeing had any truth to them."

"Truth or no, they believed it and I think that's reason enough to make them think it has come true," Kaoru met Mako's grandmother's eyes with an unrelenting gaze of her own.

There was a beat of silence before the retired Hunter cracked a small grin. "Like I said, mettle, and plenty of it." She sighed deeply and muttered. "I'm getting too old for this stuff – training young ones from scratch and believing in heralds from seers." She shook her, turning to leave. "Most of the demons that managed to slip your grasps should have all been caught by the others I brought with me by now, the coast is clear."

When no one made a move to follow, still slightly stunned she turned around and barked back at them. "Well? What are you waiting for? The rest of the demons to hear what took place here today and come seeking to take advantage of your weakened and confused states? Move it or lose it!" She snapped. "There's a war about to begin and you lot need all the training you can get before it arrives."

She glared at their blinking eyes. "_Now!_"

The group inside jumped at her demand and quickly made room to follow Mako's grandmother out the door.

Mako stared at her grandmother's retreating back in something akin to awe, jumping when Genta's voice sounded from right next to her.

"Seeing as we all know who the strongest one of is at the moment, I think Mako should be the one to take care of Takeru, don't you?" His cheeky grin and amused eyes had Mako's widening in shock as the others either agreed vocally or nodded with matching grins of their own.

Genta unceremoniously lifted Takeru's arm off of his shoulder and left him swaying on his feet for the half-second it took Mako to catch and steady him.

"You're in good hands Take-chan," Genta winked at a furiously blushing Mako as she stood flabbergasted at her friends' retreating back, trying and failing to come up with a suitable response.

"Sorry," a quiet voice sounded near her ear. "I don't seem to have much control over all of my motor skills just yet."

Mako immediately softened at Takeru's sheepish face. "No, no," she insisted. "I don't mind, really."

"Genta's also not the subtlest of people."

Mako couldn't stop the huff of laughter that escaped her. "Has he ever been?" She felt a genuine smile begin to grow on her face, the action unfamiliar as of late, as an identical one spread across Takeru's.

"No," he admitted as they began to make their way slowly toward the chapel doors, Kaoru trying not to hover just on the other side or at least not be obtrusive about it.

"I'm sorry I left."

Takeru looked over at frowned at the melancholic façade of the young woman next to him. "Genta and Ryunosuke gave me a brief overview of what happened." He halted his movements, causing Mako to stop. "It wasn't your fault Mako. It _isn't_ your fault," he insisted with earnestly until she finally met his eyes. "You came back," he continued. "You saved me, my family, our friends – everyone here is alive today because of you."

She shook her head. "I shouldn't have been so blind to the obvious – I should've seen that she was a demon –"

"I suppose that's why they say love is blind," Takeru interrupted, a small smile prompting a watery one of her own. He reached over with his free arm and gathered her close, hugging her as tightly to him as he could manage, even if he had to lean on her slightly to do it. "Thank you for coming back Mako," he breathed into her ear. "Thank you for not giving up."

Mako felt tears spill over as she hugged him just as fiercely back, burying her face in the crevice between his neck and his shoulder, breathing in his scent and feeling the warmth and nostalgia sweep over her like the swift breeze that follows a storm. "Always," she whispered against his collarbone. "I'd _always_ come back for you."

Takeru turned his head and kissed her temple, feeling a small, triumphant smile reach across his face as the move elicited the same response in her as ever, prompting her to lift her head to meet his gaze. Without giving her a moment to process the move he promptly leaned in and covered her lips with his own.

As easily as breathing Mako responded as she once had when they were lovers and reveled in his warm, soft mouth on hers, sighing shakily into the kiss as her pent up emotions found a release.

A tiny cough sounded from behind them and Takeru bit back the temptation to roll his eyes, knowing that Kaoru was all too ecstatic to see things beginning to return to rights, but also knowing this wasn't the time or place for elongated apologies or expressions of love.

Mako sighed quietly as Takeru partially released his hold on her, her eyes blinking almost dreamily up at him as if caught somewhere only halfway to the waking world. Takeru couldn't hide his pleasure at her reaction before he gazed about them briefly.

"I always wondered if we'd get married in a chapel one day," he admitted to her quietly. "But now?" He grimaced slightly as he leaned more heavily onto the petite young woman beneath him, torn between astonishment at her strength and his overall weakness.

Mako's smile was lopsided, part elation at the mention of Takeru's confession to propose to her for the second time that day, part wince as she looked gazed at the ash-covered, torn apart chapel.

"I hear backyard weddings are becoming fairly popular," Kaoru's voice piped up from the doorway. "And if not, there are plenty of temples and shrines in the area."

Takeru glared at his cousin, no real heat in his gaze as she grinned back playfully at him.

Mako flushed, now all too eager to leave as she began guiding her charge out the door.

"Of course, we'll need enough time to at least get you back up to par," Kaoru continued, unabashed. "A healthy diet, plenty of exercise and sunshine – we'll have you back in shape in no time." She glanced devilishly between the two. "That means you two have to play nice in the meantime. No fighting, rough-housing or love-making until I say so," she wagged a finger at the pair impishly. "And don't think I won't know if you try."

"_Kaoru!_" Takeru's face was as red as Mako's, if not more so for the paleness of his skin.

"Now there's the nice, healthy flush I've missed," Kaoru sighed cheekily, winking as she strode ahead to catch up with Genta and Ryunosuke, sending mischievous looks their way as she whispered conspiratorially with her companions.

Takeru groaned, "I see nothing's changed."

Mako's smile was bittersweet. "She's changed a lot in the last year." Her voce quieted. "We all have."

Takeru glanced away from his former lover with a touch of anxiety. "How much?"

Mako turned her head and gently kissed Takeru's cheek in reassurance, reveling in the delight of being able to do so after so long. "More than you think, but not as much as you fear."

He gazed at her warily. "Should I be worried?"

She shook her head. "Only that everyone will be keeping a much closer eye on your for quite some time."

"Including you?"

She smiled tenderly, "I'm never letting you out of my sight again."

Takeru's answering smile was bright as he leaned in to kiss her softly once more. "I think I can live with that."

Mako nearly shone with a dazzling inner light as she returned the kiss with interest, the love in her heart swelling to glow brighter than the radiance of the heavens above.

The war would come in its own time, but for now, Mako was content to simply have her life and love back right where she wanted them to be – in her arms.


End file.
